View source for 420chan

{{Short description|Anonymous forums where users can discuss drugs and alcohol}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox website
| name = 420chan
| logo = 420chan logo.png
| logo_size = 219
| type = Imageboard
| current_status = offline
| owner = Taima Enterprises
| creator = [[Aubrey Cottle]] (Kirtaner)
| founded = 20 April 2005
| headquarters = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]<ref name=CityNewsSWAT/><!-- Greater specificity is probably uncalled for doxing. -->
| registration = No
| url = [https://420chan.org 420chan.org]<br>{{URL|not420chan.org}}<br>{{small|(defunct)}}<br>{{URL|not420chan.com}}<ref name="WIREDSingel"/><br>{{small|(defunct)}}
}}
__NOTOC__
'''420chan''' was an anonymous [[imageboard]] founded on [[420 (cannabis culture)|20 April]] 2005<ref>{{Cite web |title=First New Board in Four Years |url=https://420chan.org/blog/2015/10/10/first-new-board-in-four-years/ |last=Cottle|first=Aubrey |date=2015-10-10 |website=420chan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224100651/https://420chan.org/blog/2015/10/10/first-new-board-in-four-years/ |archive-date=2019-02-24 |access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=WHOIS for 420chan.org |url=https://www.whois.com/whois/420chan.org |website=Domain [[WHOIS]] |via=WHOIS.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208001227/https://www.whois.com/whois/420chan.org |archive-date=2019-02-08 |access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref><ref group="note">The [[.org]] [[Top-level domain|TLD]] specifies its creation dates in its [[WHOIS]] data using [[ISO 8601]] dates. The creation date of {{Code|2005-04-21T03:39:16Z}} specifies that the domain was registered on 21 April 2005, in [[UTC]]. However, because Cottle is from Toronto, which in April has time zone [[UTC−05:00]], the registration actually did happen in the final hours of 20 April 2005.</ref> by hacker<ref>{{Cite news |title=Fallout begins for far-right trolls who trusted Epik to keep their identities secret |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/25/epik-hack-fallout/ |access-date=2023-04-21 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> and freelance web developer<ref>{{Cite web |title=In the Late 1980s, Nintendo Revealed That Super Mario Has an Uncircumcised Penis |url=https://hornet.com/stories/super-mario-penis/ |last=Villarreal|first=Daniel |date=2020-03-10 |website=Hornet |access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref> [[Aubrey Cottle]].<ref name="CityNewsSWAT">{{Cite web |title=Internet Intruder From Australia May Be Behind Early Morning Prank That Led To Local ETF Raid |url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2008/05/15/internet-intruder-from-australia-may-be-behind-early-morning-prank-that-led-to-local-etf-raid/ |date=2008-05-15 |website=[[CityNews Toronto]] |access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref> According to its founder, its name was a [[portmanteau]] of [[420 (cannabis culture)|420]], a slang word originating in [[cannabis culture]] but now applicable to [[drug culture]] more generally, and [[4chan]], another imageboard website.<ref>{{Cite web |title=420chan FAQ |url=http://www.420chan.org/what.htm |last=Cottle|first=Aubrey |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207023015/http://www.420chan.org/what.htm |archive-date=2008-02-07 |access-date=2020-05-19 |quote=I was talking to some friends and one of them came up with "420chan", a stupid combination of 4chan and drugs.}}</ref> Discussion on the site was primarily focused around [[recreational drug use]] and [[Professional wrestling|wrestling]], with other boards related to topics including [[Humour|humor]] and academia.<ref name="The Return of Anonymous"/>

While in its early history it was primarily known for hosting a board known as /i/,<ref group="note">As on 4chan, boards are identified by their [[URLs]], which are typically acronyms or shorthand for the full name of the board.</ref><ref group="note">/i/ {{Em dash}} "Invasion".</ref><ref name="WIREDSingel">{{Cite magazine |last=Singel|first=Ryan |date=2007-07-27 |title=Investigative Report Reveals Hackers Terrorize the Internet for LULZ |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2007/07/investigative-r/ |access-date=2020-05-19 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> then used by the hacker collective [[Anonymous (group)|Anonymous]]<ref name="The Return of Anonymous"/><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Caneppele|first1=Stefano |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTG8BAAAQBAJ&q=%22420chan%22&pg=PA235 |title=Organized Crime, Corruption and Crime Prevention: Essays in Honor of Ernesto U. Savona |last2=Calderoni|first2=Francesco |date=2013-10-30 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-319-01839-3 |pages=235}}</ref> to stage "invasions" against individuals and web platforms such as [[Habbo Hotel]],<ref name="foxnewsanonreport">{{cite news |last=Shuman|first=Phil |date=2007-07-26 |title=FOX 11 Investigates: 'Anonymous{{'-}} |work=MyFOX Los Angeles |publisher=[[KTTV]] ([[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]) |url=http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3894628&version=7&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522123812/http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3894628&version=7&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1 |archive-date=2008-05-22}}</ref> and [[Hal Turner]].<ref name="The Return of Anonymous">{{cite news |last=Beran |first=Dale |date=11 August 2020 |title=The Return of Anonymous |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/08/hacker-group-anonymous-returns/615058/ |work=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=25 August 2020 }}</ref> 

The modern incarnation of the website was primarily known for hosting discussions about psychoactive drugs legal and illegal.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Olson|first=Parmy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncGVPtoZPHcC&q=420chan+drugs&pg=PT403 |title=We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency |date=2012-06-05 |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |isbn=978-0-316-21353-0 |quote=420chan is known for its discussion of drugs. |page=403}}</ref> The site was also known for its [[LGBT]] discussion boards, /cd/<ref group="note">/cd/ {{Em dash}} "Transgender Discussion".</ref> and /sd/,<ref group="note">/sd/ {{Em dash}} "Sexuality Discussion".</ref> as well as the [[Professional wrestling|wrestling]] board, /wooo/.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sauerbier|first=Rachel Ann |url=https://csuchico-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/10211.4_336/4%2018%202011%20Rachel%20Sauerbier.pdf?sequence=1 |title=Word is out: the use of social media sites during the coming out process |publisher=[[California State University, Chico]] |year=2011 |pages=8, 52}}</ref>

As of 1 June 2022, 420chan's main URL, 420chan.org, went offline. On 20 April 2023, the domain was sold to [[Fredrick Brennan]] for $4,200 in Ethereum, and a temporary landing page went up.

== Footnotes ==

=== Notes ===
<references group="note" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Anonymous and the Internet}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Imageboards]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2005]]
[[Category:Anonymous social media]]
[[Category:Cannabis culture]]
[[Category:Canadian internet forums]]
{{Entertainment-website-stub}}